If you ask someone in Rochester, N.Y., about Open Letter Books, you’re likely to get a blank stare. This has never sat well with Chad Post, the publisher of Open Letter, one of the country’s only presses dedicated to international literature. It’s one of the reasons why Post is using the press’s latest book, a French novel with a surprising local hook, to try and make a splash in his community.
That Open Letter has not won over the hearts and minds of Rochester natives is perhaps unsurprising. Housed at the University of Rochester, Open Letter is somewhat cut off, geographically, from the city it calls home. Furthermore, as a publisher devoted to literature in translation, the nonprofit house operates in a segment that lacks mass appeal. Nonetheless, Post has long felt the press could have a higher profile in the city; that it’s known almost exclusively to those with ties to the university’s English department is far from ideal, he said. But Rochester Knockings, which Open Letter released last month, could change all that.
Post first heard about Hubert Haddad’s novel at last year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, when someone from Haddad’s French house, Zulma, told him they were “publishing a book about [your] hometown.” As it turned out, Rochester Knockings has a strong connection to the city in upstate New York. It’s about the three Fox Sisters, who lived in Rochester and became well-known mediums in the 19th century. The women, who launched a lucrative career on the premise that they could communicate with the dead, are also credited with launching the Spiritualist movement. Today their place in history has given them something of a cult following; Post noted that they are particularly well-known among palm readers.
Although Post had never heard of the Fox sisters, he knew Haddad’s work and was immediately intrigued by the book’s premise. He was also drawn to the idea of publishing something that might appeal to the Rochester community at large. Rochester Knockings, which came out October 13, has been doing well for the press. Post estimated that Open Letter has, so far, sold 1,400 copies of its initial 2,200-copy run. The book has benefited from increasing interest in the Fox Sisters themselves—a 1936 New Yorker article about the country’s first haunted house, where the sisters lived, was recently optioned by Fox Searchlight, and a play about them called The Incredible Fox Sisters recently ended its limited run at New York City’s New Ohio Theater.
The release of Rochester Knockings has also given Post a chance to do the kind of events in the community that he has long wanted to, moving away from what has been the press’s standard of on-campus readings. On October 23, the press hosted a party for the book, which it also dubbed “a celebration for Rochester.” The soiree was held at the Historic German House, a warehouse-like private event space in the city’s South Wedge neighborhood, and featured a local band (conveniently named the Fox Sisters), palm readers, an extensive raffle, and sponsorships from more than 20 local businesses. Post said the party drew roughly 125 people and that most didn’t know what Open Letter was.
Rochester Knockings has also proven effective with another faction Post has been courting with little success: the local media. The book spurred the alternative weekly Rochester City Paper to do its first feature on Open Letter (which ran this summer); the press will also be the subject of a story in the local magazine 585.
Post’s goal of turning Open Letter into more of a community nonprofit, as opposed to a university one, is not without hurdles, though. He readily acknowledges that the publisher’s list alone won’t appeal to many. This is why he intends to make the press’s future events similar to the Rochester Knockings party, building them around things with more universal appeal, such as good bands and good bars. “Books are great, and I want people to know Open Letter does books,” Post said. “But I also want them to know we throw this big party every fall.” He paused. “I think people respond to that much better than someone saying, ‘Here’s a serious literary book you should read.’ ”
